Erica Halmstad has been named executive director of the Cedarburg Art Museum.
Halmstad has past experience in both for-profit and nonprofit organizations including over five years as the membership manager at West Allis-based National Fluid Power Association. Prior to being named executive director, Halmstad was the assistant director of communication for the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society in Milwaukee.
“The board is confident that Erica’s background in nonprofit management and leadership along with her experience in communications, marketing and membership management will be key to supporting the (museum’s) priorities,” said Pamela Helf, president of the Cedarburg Art Museum Board of Directors.
As director, Halmstad will be in charge of communications, marketing, fundraising and membership. Priority has also been placed on the marketing of a museum-sponsored book that is a 462-page survey of the state’s art from prehistory to the present.
Halmstad and her family moved to Cedarburg in 2019 from Milwaukee. She is not an artist but describes herself as having a “creative mindset.”
“It’s clear that the current staff, volunteers and artists have a depth of experience and knowledge and I look forward to years of collaboration and we work together to celebrate the arts in Cedarburg and its surrounding area,” Halmstad said.
Halmstad is replacing Samantha Landre Michalski, who left her role as executive director at the start of the year.
Founded in 2013, the Cedarburg Art Museum collects, preserves, and exhibits the artwork of Cedarburg and its surrounding areas. It sponsors art education activities for young people. Seasonally, it operates a beer garden with live music around a background fountain and a stage.
